Container



United States Patent 3,201,028 CQNTAINER Martin E. Fossler, Philadelphia, and William C. Leingang, Jr., Warrington, Pa, assignors to Wolf Brothers, line, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 21, 1964, Ser. No. 384,149 2 (Ilairns. (Cl. 229-54) This invention relates to a container, for example, a paper bag and more particularly relates to a container having novel carrying and closure means.

It is Well known to make tubular paper bags and provide them with handle means. Such bags generally are provided with a handle made by forming openings in the front and back walls of the bag to accommodate fingers of the carriers hand as is illustrated, for example in Patent No. 2,855,832. A typical paper handle of the type which extends above the body of the bag is disclosed in Patent No. 2,237,324 wherein a loop of string is se cured to the bag body by stapling. Alternatively the loop has been secured by gluing a patch over the ends thereof.

This invention provides a novel handle of the loop type which can be rapidly inserted in a container. Due to the novel construction, the connection between the handle and the container body is a strong one permitting carrying of relatively heavy loads in the container. In addition, the handles remain firmly attached to the container body in the originally afiixed position during ordinary usage.

The invention is advantageous in that the handle can be secured without any additional material such as glue flaps or staples and Without any special equipment.

The invention and its advantages will be further clarified by reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a bag partially broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section adjacent the interior rear wall of the bag and looking toward said rear wall;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation partially broken away showing one of the handle receiving openings;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation showing an enlarged view a of one end of one of the handles;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevation of a bag having a modified handle in accordance with the invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view showing adjacent portions of the handles of the bag of FIGURE 5.

A bag 2 in accordance with the invention has a pair of handles 4, 4 preferably of a flexible material, such as for example a polyalkylene resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene or a vinyl resin such as polyvinyl chloride. A handle of synthetic resin is advantageous since it can be mass produced at low cost using conventional molding techniques and makes possible the use of a variety of pleasing colors. However, other flexible material such as leather will obviously be satisfactory.

Handle 4 comprises a loop portion 6 having adjacent each end thereof wings 8 and 10 providing shoulders 8a and 10a. At each terminal end of each looped portion 6 is a locking tab 12 provided with a pair of upstanding ears 14 and 16 which are outboard of wings 8 and 10 respectively.

Bag 2 has a front wall 18 and a back wall 2%) formed r 3,201,028 Patented Aug. 17, 1965 from a single paper blank in any manner well known for making shopping bags. A reinforcement patch 22 of, for example heavy paper or cardboard, is adhesively secured to front wall 18 and an identical reinforcement patch 24 is adhesively secured to back wall 20.

Each end..of each loop 6 of a handle 4 passes through a die cut opening 26 which prior to the insertion of a handle is substantially filled by a downwardly extending tab 28 and an upwardly extending tab 30.

Operation To assemble, each tab 12 will be presented to the opening 26 with which it is to be associated while lying substantially in a plane perpendicular to the walls of the bag and including the axis of the opening. The tab 12 which is not quite as Wide as the opening 26 is long will force tabs 28 and 3t inwardly permitting the entry of tab 12 into the interior of the bag. After tab 12 has been pushed inwardly sufiiciently to clear tabs 28 and 30, it is turned by manipulation of loop 6 which is pulled upwardly so as to position shoulders 8a and Illa of wings 8 and 10 exterior of the wall of the bag in question which will act to prevent the associated end of loop 6 from again moving further into the interior of the bag. This places the upper portions of tab 12 in contact with the associated patch adjacent opening 26 and positions ears 14 and 16 above opening 26. Tab 12 overlies tab 30 which acts to keep tab 30 in a position to close that portion of opening 26 which is not closed by' handle 4. Bars 14 and 16 act to limit the pivoting of tab 12 about a horizontal line passing through the upper portion of opening 26 and thus eliminate any annoying swinging of the bag particularly when lightly loaded.

Where it is desired to provide means for positively keeping the top of the bag closed, the handles 4 may be modified as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. As disclosed in these figures, handles 40 and 42 are respectively pro vided with integral molded male snap members 44 and female snap members 46. In all other respects, handles 40 and 42 are identical with handles 4. Handles 40 and 42 are shown in FIGURE 5 as an integral part of a bag 48 which, except as noted above, is identical with bag 2. When it is desired to close the top of the bag, male snap members 44 are passed through female snap members 46 which result in securing handles 40 and 42 secured together which in turn closes the top of the bag.

What is claimed is:

1. A paper bag comprising a front wall,

a back Wall,

each front and back Wall having a pair of spaced openings substantially equidistant from the top thereof,

a downwardly extending tab connected to the upper terminus of each opening, an upwardly extending tab connected to the lower terminus of each opening,

an integral handle having a loop portion passing through each pair of openings in each of said front and back Walls,

wings integral with each end of each loop portion to engage the bag adjacent the openings to limit the entrance of the loop portion into the bag,

a locking tab integral with each end of the loop portion having a Width substantially greater than the width of the adjacent opening and overlying the adjacent upwardly extending tab.

a pair of ears integral with each locking tab and extending upwardly above the adjacent opening outboard of the adjacent wings.

2. A bag in accordance with claim 1 having snap catch means on said loop portions of said handles adjacent the tops of the front and back panels to removably secure the handles together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Duvall 229--54 5 2,926,782 3/60 Andre 22952 3,140,038 7/64 Laguerre 229-54 3,144,196 8/64 Sindars 22952 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. 10 FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner 

1. A PAPER BAG COMPRISING A FRONT WALL, A BACK WALL, EACH FRONT AND BACK WALL HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED OPENINGS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIDISTANT FROM THE TOP THEREOF, A DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING TAB CONNECTED TO THE UPPER TERMINUS OF EACH OPENING, AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING TAB CONNECTED TO THE LOWER TERMINUS OF EACH OPENING, AN INTEGRAL HANDLE HAVING A LOOP PORTION PASSING THROUGH EACH PAIR OF OPENINGS IN EACH OF SAID FRONT AND BACK WALLS, WINGS INTEGRAL WITH EACH END OF EACH LOOP PORTION TO ENGAGE THE BAG ADJACENT THE OPENINGS TO LIMIT THE ENTRANCE OF THE LOOP PORTION INTO THE BAG, A LOCKING TAB INTEGRAL WITH EACH END OF THE LOOP PORTION HAVING A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE ADJACENT OPENING AND OVERLYING THE ADJACENT UPWARDLY EXTENDING TAB. A PAIR OF EARS INTEGRAL WITH EACH LOCKING TAB AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOVE THE ADJACENT OPENING OUTBOARD OF THE ADJACENT WINGS. 